Christmas Day
“All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:17)
Reflection
If I had seen that original Nativity scene, I imagine I would keep thinking about it too. I would “bend back” in time to keep whatever grace I had found there. That’s how Mary would pray, calling to mind again and again the many ways her life was blessed or broken. We too might find it helpful to look at life “again” and see (like in a mirror) how our image does or doesn’t reflect God, in whose image we were created.
These first moments of the Christmas story cause us to reflect back on those times of happiness and security we enjoyed as kids. This is a valuable type of prayer. The word “reflect” comes from two Latin words: re (again) + flectere (to bend). The words flexible and genuflect are related to this bending. In our modeling of Mary’s humility, let us bend the knee each day and be flexible of heart enough to find God in mental prayer.
The Jesuits practice this type of prayer each day; it is called the Examen. Take a moment to reflect on how you might make this commitment for 2021.
Two web sites below can help:
https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/
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